One great thing about Scotland is the right to roam. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 allowed everyone the right to access land and inland water across the country. But us sheep have been doing it for much longer than that. This summer I’ve bumped into quite a few tourists who have been surprised to find us also wandering around freely enjoying the landscape. Apparently it makes our meat very tasty although I don’t really want to think about that. But it’s made me realize what a good life we have here compared to our brothers and sisters in the factory farming world. We are able to explore the fields and glens on our ease, nibbling the grass and heather and sniffing the wild herbs and flowers. And just looking at the world around us, like this great poem of William Henry Davies encourages us to do.

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows …

W.H. Davies himself knew all about roaming. For most of his life he lived without a fixed roof over his head, trying to sell his poems from door to door. He hardly sold a single copy. If only he knew how many people were reading this poem now!

I want to introduce you today to some good friends of mine from Kenya. Mary, whose nickname is Mother Sheep, is an amazing woman who works in the Kenana knitting cooperative in Kenya and knits these beautiful woollen sheep. You can find out more about her and my Kenana friends in this inspiring film: ‘Stitch by Stitch’.

And from now on you can even buy Kenana sheep from this website. Buying a Kenana sheep helps support this wonderful project which is empowering people through knitting. It makes me so happy to think what wool can do. It even makes me proud to be a sheep!

This is a blog written by Skye the sheep, a character from the Sheep called Skye series. She lives on the Isle of Skye with her family – Jacob, Jacuzzi, Owen and Ben – and they’ve just started up a recycling company. If you find this hard to believe, check out their stories here. Skye will be commenting on life from under the wool and would love to hear what view you have from your end of the field.

If you would like to receive updates of Skye’s blog please click here.

Humans seem to have lots of wrong ideas about sheep so I thought I might take a moment to put the record straight. For example people seem to think that when sheep meet in a group they are trying to tell the world it’s going to rain: When sheep gather in a huddle, tomorrow we will have a puddle. However in my experience when sheep gather together in that way they are much more likely to be having an important board meeting about the quality of the grass or the state of the fences or how to protect themselves against foxes. I mean when the artist Anthony Schrag gave his talk about the Highland Clearances, you humans had all disappeared and it seemed we were the only ones that were listening!

So this is a little poem I wrote to give you another perspective on us woolly creatures:

Please don’t underestimate a sheep
we’re not only there to help you sleep.
Or give you tips about the rain,
do not assume a woolly brain.
We may seem clumsy, thick and round
but our hooves are firmly on the ground.
We know our landscape far and wide,
more than any human guide.
We’re there to warm you when you’re cold
and bring you homewards to the fold.
When you lose yourself in pastures steep,
do not despair, just find a sheep …

I’ve a funny feeling that 2013 is going to be the year of the wool. In this rainy climate there are a lot of things that can be said for wool, but one of the most important is that it can hold 35% of its weight in water before it feels wet. In fact not until wool is saturated with 60% of its own weight will it feel wet to the touch. You see, wool fibres draw moisture away from the skin helping to keep the body warm. That’s why we sheep manage to keep our heads above water out there in the wind and the rain while you are all tucked up inside with your sheepskin rugs and your woolly slippers. Personally I’m all for raising sheep for fleece rather than food as I would rather become a lambswool jumper than a piece of roast lamb any day! Every year a new fleece grows on my back so think how many woolly rugs or jerseys that is compared to one piece of meat.

If you give someone something made of wool it’s like giving them a piece of warmth and love and protection all in one go. So how about trying on a bit of wool this winter and see if it makes a difference. This is my motto for 2013: wear wool today and keep the rain away!

I’m on Facebook, you can meet me on my website, I can send emails and write blogs, my head is spinning with it all. But sometimes I long for something real to hold in my hand and smell and touch and feel. Digital grass isn’t the same as real grass I can tell you, even if you can find it in every shade of green and painted in ever so neatly with Photoshop. You see, it just doesn’t taste the same and I’m still hungry afterwards. It’s like there’s nothing really there. So now that the days are drawing in and it’s getting a little colder I’m so glad I’ve got my real wool around me to keep me warm.

It got me thinking there might be people out there who would like to be sent a real card to put up on the mantelpiece above the fire, to remind them of their friends, to keep them warm during those long dark evenings. So that’s why we’ve decided to launch a special Autumn action – with every purchase you make from our website I am giving away a free card – a real card- that you can smell and touch and feel and that you can write your own message in with a real pen. We have four different designs, each with their own picture and quotation, but inside you can write just what you want, something that nobody else has ever written and that only the person you are sending it to will ever see. How’s that for novelty? It’s amazing really when you think about it, posting something in a red box one day and a few days later it arrives the other end of the world! It’s almost digital!

It’s out! No Place like Skye! Another story is out there in the world, making the day a little bit warmer, a little bit different. Hope it will reach you somehow, touch you, make you smile, make you cry. Change you, even. It needs its readers – people like you that look beyond the horizon, sheep with a hoof in different worlds. That is the future and you are a part of it. If you go to my website www.asheepcalledskye.com you can buy a copy and there’s a special price offer running until the 31st August. I look forward to meeting you there!